Beck: Timebomb

Standalone singles need sturdy footing, and there’s something so very throwaway about ‘Timebomb’ that has even the most fair-weather of* Beck *fans pondering what the point of its release is, exactly.

Pulse and throb, for just under three minutes; going nowhere, no climax come the countdown’s conclusion; just questions unanswered, closure far from present. Reading too much into a silly dancefloor song to fill space between one toe-tapper and another? P’haps, but when the artist in question is one so celebrated as He Who Made Odelay, scrutiny is unavoidable.

“Nah nah nah nah… Timebomb ticking”, over and over. Repetition grinding its way home, burrowing beneath skin but itching rather than prickling, irritating rather than pleasurable. Where’s the BOOM, Beck? This is a damp blip, a cut lead, the red’s the winner but how we wish he’d snipped at the blue just for effect.

Watch the clock: once all the seconds are up it’s unlikely you’ll go around again.